[Chlamydia trachomatis: screening within the scope of prenatal care and rapid diagnosis in threatened premature labor].

Cervical infection with Chlamydia trachomatis during pregnancy is related to the incidence of preterm labour and preterm rupture of membranes, causing elevated neonatal morbidity and mortality. The present study reports our two-years-experiences with a general screening on Chlamydia infection in prenatal care as well as diagnostic possibilities in case of imminent preterm delivery. In the examined population of totally n = 263 pregnant women attended in our prenatal care unit, the prevalence of cervical Chlamydia infection was 3.4%. Among the screened asymptomatic women (n1 = 179) 2.8% had positive findings. Among n2 = 84 patients with preterm labour and/or preterm rupture of membranes 4.8% revealed cervical infection. Specially in the acute situation of imminent preterm delivery, an immunological bedside assay (Clearview Chlamydia, R) tested in 203 cases versus the tissue culture as reference method proved helpful. Its sensitivity was 0.8, specificity 0.99. The test allowed to prove or exclude chlamydial infection within only 30 minutes.